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Roger Simon takes Mitt Romney to task on Meet The Press this morning for waffling on the issue of pardons. Romney, who never issued a pardon while serving as Governor of Massachusetts out of respect for jury verdicts, now thinks that Scooter Libby is deserving of a pardon from the current White House occupant. As Simon wrote in his syndicated column this week:

"And Romney's true standard seems to be: No pardons for nobodies. Somebodies can catch a break."

One wonders why Republicans and the mainstream press keep harping on the Libby pardon anyway, since Bush emphatically stated back on March 7, 2007 that he would not overturn the jury verdict:

"This was a lengthy trial on a serious matter and a jury of his peers convicted him. And we have to respect that conviction."

Of course, Bush does have a history of saying one thing and doing another.

I like the last paragraph,Impeach or be prosecuted. You either get them or they're gonna get you. And remember, begging for mercy doesn't work with the creators of Gitmo. They're playing for keeps. You put it exactly right.

The Democrats should have and needed to consider this fact when they decided what course of action they were going to take after the 2006 elections. Because there was no turning back for the neocons once they perpetrated their coup d'etat, and with forethought, set about condoning torture. Now that they are in the "driver's seat", nothing except extreme force will pry their hands from the controls of this fascist train. They've committed heinous crimes. They intend to follow this criminal path to the end.

We here on Conyersblog knew this fact (See comment #25) and knew we had only one chance to pull Democracy back into the people's hands. It was a long shot at the time, but we knew we needed to win back the House of Representative in the 2006 midterm election so that we the people at least stood a chance at correcting fifty some odd years of Imperialism.

We also knew that we had very little time, because the forces of evil had a fifty year head start. Yet we worked hard to awaken the nation to the truth of the crimes that are being committed in our name. We worked so hard that, not only did we win an impressive majority for the Democrats in the House, we unexpectedly won back a majority for the Democrats in the Senate.

We won the Senate by spreading the truth to "strong "Red states" like Montana. (Rusty kicked ass up there in the northern plain states for the Democrats. From his influential and powerful editorials placed in well distributed and read newspapers to his GOTV phonebanking, Rusty, perhaps singlehandedly, delivered to rural America, the truth about BushCo and motivated voter to turn out and vote Democratic) And really, what alternative did we truly have at the time? It was do or die fascist.

We also knew that the road to restoring the Constitution did not end with the election. We knew that there would be many forces trying to sway Progressives and Democrats from the one true path of restoration. We are entering a period of great cusp, where the interactions of a billion separate intertwined forces and events will determine the probable course that America will take. Possibly for the next few decades and/or centuries ahead. Three months are all that remain to affect the fulfillment and outcome of these events.

If the Republicans win the election and the 110th Congress refuses to assert their power, the path to imperialist global fascism is almost assured. There will be no real avenue available to turn back the losses of liberty without assistance from outside the US.

If Democrats win, the road to accountability will remain open and preserving the Constitution will remain a viable option. The main cast of usurpers will almost assuredly be investigated. However, unlike a Republican victory where the means to restoring liberty will be nearly impossible, a Democratic victory will see paths that are more easily turned and reshaped. With our country weakened and debt laden, a new main cast of usurpers may easily be inserted into the finance and monetary structure still in situ, and again attempt to gain control.

I don't know how you became googled so high that I would run across your blog, but "Good job." Now, about your flip flopping thing with Romney. It is getting quite lame.

The article I viewed right before your site in part said,

"Also notable is that the closing "ask" for donations was made by Camas-based investment manager David Nierenberg (who according to FEC and state PDC reports, is a major league donor to Democrats, but a less frequent donor to Republican campaigns). Nierenberg cited his 30-year acquaintanceship with Romney, calling him "the most capable person I've ever met" Stefan Sharkansky at June 21, 2007 11:37 AM

I'm just saying, he sounds to me like somebody we NEED to put in The Whitehouse, as opposed to all the other incapable people who want the job. I never heard of the guy until March 07, but the criticisms are just so lame, as if you can't find the usual dirt so you have to make an issue up. No where did I hear anything factual in your comment. I may be mistaken but I thought/heard he mean that a pardon should be considered. What he would actually do is not known. I haven't heard any one follow-up with Mitt to ask him why he would consider a pardon, as I don't know if he knows the specifics of the case, or what. I just know the guy is extremely smart and capable with law and business degrees from Harvard. I just would like to hear more in depth findings from the people who join the "flip-flop brigade" about anyone.

We all have different criteria for choosing what politician to vote for. If you prefer to base your decision on the word of a friend or someone you trust that is your prerogative. I, on the other hand, prefer as much information as I can manage on each candidate. This flip flop on pardons is just one piece of the puzzle. But, make no mistake about it, it is a flip flop of the worst kind. As it shows a willingness to flaunt the law and continue the cronyism and favoritism so readily practiced by the Bush administration. And this is hardly the first flip flop for Romney (see abortion, gay marriage, etc).

Also, I don't think there is a direct correlation between being smart and being a good president. Otherwise, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton would be on Mount Rushmore. However, there does appear to be a stronger correlation between lack of intelligence and bad presidents. See 43.

Finally, I have no bias towards those with Harvard law and business degrees. My bias is towards those with a Harvard business / Yale undergrad resume.

Anderson and Romney became "great friends" after they closely worked together on the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. They have campaigned for each other, despite their party difference, but now Anderson says Mitt Romney's support for the Iraq war, torture and the doubling of the size of Guantanamo is "unconscionable." "I am very surprised that somebody like Mitt Romney, who I always felt had such great integrity and was so reasonable, would have caved in to his handlers and flip-flopped on so many issues," Anderson said. [includes rush transcript]
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Rocky Anderson - the mayor of Salt Lake City - is one of the most outspoken critics of the Bush administration and the Iraq war. Earlier this year he called for the impeachment of President Bush calling him a “war criminal” who has committed “high crimes and misdemeanors.”
Rocky Anderson is also well regarded for his local politics. Last year The Nation magazine praised him for instituting "some of the most creative, thoughtful and radical urban policies anywhere in America."

Today, Rocky Anderson is in New York to participate at an event calling for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney. He will be speaking at the New York Society for Ethical Culture at 6:30 p.m. this evening.

We talk to him about impeachment and his friend Mitt Romney, Republican presidential candidate.

Rocky Anderson, The Mayor of Salt Lake City. He is a staunch opponent of the war in Iraq and has repeatedly called for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney.

"But the thing that I find incredibly frightening is that Mitt Romney --- and this has stunned me --- that he could stand up and say, number one, that he would support this war, that he would have gone about this much like President Bush has, that he supports torture and that he would double the size of Guantanamo. That, for me, is just so absolutely unconscionable. And I have tried to get him to meet with some retired generals and admirals. Human Rights First has been lining some of these people up to talk to the presidential candidates about what is happening, about what the heritage, history, has been, in the armed forces, how important it is even for the safety of our own servicemen and -women to abide by the Geneva Conventions or their equivalent under international law and also abide by our own domestic law in these areas. And to this point, he has refused to meet with them. And I just --- I do not understand that. And I think that it’s so frightening that it’s perceived by any presidential candidate that that is going to help them get elected, standing up for torture, saying that this is a good thing for the first time in our nation's history as a matter of official policy."

I will just have to make a comment about Rocky Anderson of Salt Lake City. He is not someone who is genuine but duplicitous, reflecting in this case most likely, the kind of back stabbing friend my wife still holds grudges against after 35 years. I would not listen to him about anything. I am sorry "Big Dan" as I know it does not reflect personally on you.

I don't want to be a Romney apologist but for me, the road is quite clear as to how this election will go. And it makes me sad, for my kids and grandkids. I want the same level of skill in government that society places on me as a surgeon, but alas, will never be. It is not a matter of smarts whether you hail from the East or the West, Stanford or Harvard. I want someone who is capable and wise as to the reality of the world. The "blood and guts" guy who can stick his arm and hand into a chest and keep a heart going and yet stop to let death come.

The world is all shades of grey, not black and white. I have seen too many "smart" people flail in their attempt to use a scalpel to save a human life. Why do people fight about stem cell research when the promises of its usefullness are still whisps of hope as young researchers hang out in labs. Why do people fight for the right to have an abortion when it is treated and used as a birth control method, by young women so naive about the world and the gift of life, as I walk through the burgeoning recovery room listening to the sounds of young women and their mothers cry in grief, alone in their abortion of something which would have grown into a human being with enough nutrition and oxygen. So when did it become a human being, someone tell me? Or when was it not? And where are the fathers not found nor capable of responsibility, yet able to impregnate. On the other hand, I don't want to see young women die of sepsis, for lack of proper and sterile equipment, done by idiots in back rooms, and left to die in dungy basements and back alleys. Where's the humananity in that? No one is right, but all are human.

You know, I used to think that the world was going really well until 1963. Capable men, wise beyond years and forged by war into the true definition of manhood. I still remember the day that John F. Kennedy was shot. How everyone cried and everyone felt gloom. For me, it was a wonderful fall day in upstate New York; warm enough to play baseball. Yet I recently learned that JFK gave a wonderful speech in the mormon tabernacle two months before his assasination.

And then look at his brother! completely different, and I think JFK would be ashamed of this mormon stuff with Mitt Romney. I think JFK would be ashamed of a lot of democrats. (and I am glad to dissociate myself from this party of "quacks", hijacked by issues of peripheral value)

So now, look what happened? First came the idiot te.x.an LBJ and his to.x.ic Viet Nam War, then the criminal RMN, then the whiney incapable JC, then the actor who made people feel good but started the voo doo economic insanity, etc. then the nobody and his first so glorious war with vaccines disabling young men and americans dying for what, oil, so american businesses could imperialize the world with western moors so offensive to another regional religion, that they have to Jihad and blow themselves and us up. Then the lying slick guy who couldn't keep his sperm in his own testicles because he did not want to. How "smart" is that? then the savant Id. who speaks what language with four grunts in a row. Just "who in the all getout" thought we could destroy another country and teach them democracy, that barely survives here, and only exists because we have great people and children who do volunteer and have hope, and enough great people who care for their neighbors and elderly, and try to do what is right in their communities. Yet, I fear that is being lost as well.

So someone show me someone who will deal with the real issues facing us, and perhaps be capable and competant, so that my poor patients living on $750.00 a month will have some hope of future security with stable finances and medical care, and all of us with some quality of life as the oil runs way up in price. Who in the government understands "peak oil" and the coming spiraling inflation as costs go way up due to out of control energy costs. Who can get healthcare for more americans, and not destroy it? Why should doctors put up with all the crap and not just leave the field? They already are in droves. Get your medical care at Walmart!

Who will protect the earth? What kind of earth will my kids have, and their kids? Who of you want your savings burnt up by the debasement of the american dollar to pay off debts for oil, TVs, and cheap clothes, and everything else that we have forgotten to make in this country? And for wars no body wants, and for government who does not care abit about anyone but their own survival. What a Cancer? As the rich get richer and the poor get poorer and more disenfranchised. Not Hillary, Not OBama, What a pitiful lot? So I am sorry I don't buy the importance of your lame flip flop article. Look what all Democrats do. the whole lot are flipping and flopping, then slapping and nudging then, stabbing and killing. The same as the Republicans.

Is it time to leave this crumbling pile of stupidity and move to Australia, France, Argentina, Pues?

You are grossly misinformed on many subjects, if not, most. As just one example you seem to think it Democrats that have a problem with Romney's religion when it is the christian right which has repeatedly made it an issue. Also, please tell me you were referring to Republicans as the party of "quacks".

Anyways, you are obviously a bright guy but there seems to be a disconnect somewhere between the questions you ask (outside of the stem cell/abortion area which is clearly influenced by your religious beliefs) which suggest a progressive at heart and your Republican leanings. The best medicine for you would be to frequent Brad Blog and the reality based blog community. I hope you stick around.

Alan

P.S. based on your last paragraph about the candidates it seems to me that you left out the one guy speaking about most of the issues you raise.

But who is listening?
Celui qui mange de ce gateau avant le diner va m'entendre!
The disconnect is the lack of fusion of two realities that cannot co-exist.
Clinto, Edwards, Obama, all crically flawed! Simply pathetic in their attempts to cover up their pasts, morph into someone who is electable and competent. They should not remain and waste our resources. Quack, quack, Quack! Another must arise and take their place or guiliani is president, another nobody who will bring us more grief and distress. And more of the same! I want out of this party!

"You are grossly misinformed on many subjects, if not, most." Please define the above as well its depth and width. And do the quotes go to the right of the period or the left.